Playing Favourites
by Sapphire402
Summary: Ginny is stressed out. Ginny has three kids (demons) and thinks her mother must be some sort of deity - to raise seven of the little hellions and come out so well. She probably needs advice, or a stiff drink, but some comfort should suffice.


"Mom, I'm desperate." And she really looked it too.

Ginny had bags under her eyes and not a hair in place.

"This is it. I've always known Harry wanted a big family but three is my limit!"

Molly Weasley was admittedly a bit worried about her only daughter's rough aspect, but had to reign in a chuckle at the affirmation. She rested her cup on the table.

"And what brought this on, Ginny dear?"

The scandalized glare the younger gave her mother was nearly insulting.

"Those demons are running the house." She breathed, deadly serious.

Molly just _had_ to let out a soft snort.

"It can't be that bad."

"Harry is spoiling them rotten! James wanted a broom – Harry bought him the newest and taught him all the tricks. Albus wanted to see a 'gator – Harry organized a freaking weekend-long trip to the London zoo. And Lily! Lily only has to pout and Harry gathers to her on his hands and knees! He sides with me in most arguments but doesn't add more than 'your mother knows what she's talking about'. And, alright, when James was a baby it was pretty adorable seeing him all smitten, but he is almost ten and I'm not sure he knows what it's like to be told 'no'." She paused only long enough to drag her fingers through her hair in frustration. Her voice lowered quite suddenly, "You should have seen the way he looked at me when I raised a spoon at Albus in a half threat. Harry was way more scared than our son."

"Oh Ginny, we all know Harry is a big softie under all that well-deserved fame. He loves your children fiercely, and that's a good thing." The Weasley matriarch raised a hand when it looked like the younger was ready to interrupt. "But, I can understand your worry… Do they misbehave a lot, or take advantage of Harry?"

Ginny passed a hand through her shoulder-length hair in chagrin, only to stop and scoff realising she picked that up from her husband.

"Harry is a good dad. He tries not to be too serious with the kids, plays with them and is always there for them. You know how understanding he was when I thought about training the Harpies..." Molly just nodded, waiting for her daughter to reach the point. "Well, the other day Hugo and Rose were over... But, I should start from the beginning. It was a couple years ago, James and Al were just mucking around and James hit Al, pretty hard, but he didn't even cry, just sat on the floor with a hand on his head and this look of shock. I was ready to leave them be, a bit of roughhousing is nothing to be worried about, right? But Harry just about lost it, he freaked. He picked Albus up, absolutely frenetic, checked him all over like he would bleed to death and refused to let him go. When he saw Al was quite alright, he stopped everything that was going on in the house. He called Lily from the backyard and made all three sit in front of him on the couch and explained in heart-wrenching details what it feels like to be hit from someone you love, and how it feels when you hurt someone and _then_ how thinking hitting is alright would mess you up, and how you should only hit someone as a last resort to protect someone you love. He was just so raw and honest, no one dared squirm. He said all of it with this painfully sincere, naked look in his eyes and he stared at James with this hopeful, sad look... James started sobbing like a baby. He launched himself at Harry, before turning to Al and apologizing over and over, and this shocked the other two into motion. They rushed to reassure their dad that they wouldn't, ever, and that everything was alright and they loved him and each other and they would be careful. I thought he was about to suffocate in the tangle of limbs they became. They spent the next two days tiptoeing around him and offering hugs at any chance they got, James in particular treating Al like he was made of glass, likely to break any minute, with Harry positively beaming at them."

"The poor dear," Mrs Weasley murmured, tapping her under eyes dry, before smiling wistfully. "That seems great parenting alright."

And Ginny sighed, because _of course_ , she agreed, but that didn't stop her from feeling miffed about the whole thing.

"And what about Hugo and Rose?" Molly reminded her.

"Well, yes, a couple days ago, Ron and Hermione came to catch up and let the kids play. We were just talking when we heard a cry and went in the living room to check. Apparently Hugo had shoved Al for some reason, so James had promptly thrown him to the ground, in what seemed like a well-practiced move, I'll tell you that, then got up, just to scream at Hugo that you never hit the ones you love, and if he ever hit Albus again he would hit him back and never talk with him for the rest of his life. Hugo seemed to not understand the problem at all and Hermione looked downright ashamed. Harry, though, he was so proud of Jamie!"

"Dear, I strain to see the problem here." Her mother admitted, with a little smile.

"Yeah, probably there isn't." Ginny sighed again, "Harry was really happy, baking this _delicious_ cake for 'no reason, love' and assaulting me with kisses and 'we raised them good's." She smiled lovingly at that, then got right back in the nearly gloomy mood. "They love him a lot."

Molly smacked her lips, thinking she finally understood the whole point.

"You realise you are their mother, and they couldn't love you more than they do, right?"

"Well of course, but..." She stirred her now cold tea, the one-hundredth sight right on her lips. Molly took her left hand in hers.

"Harry is the fun parent, and you have a great job you enjoy, it doesn't mean your children have favourites or would be alright without their mother." Ginny tightened her hold on her mother's hands.

"I love you, mom." Molly beamed.

"You too, hun."


End file.
